Shloka 356
Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana
शलभानामिव व्राता: शरा: कर्णसमीरिता: । कर्णके चलाये हुए सहस्रों सुवर्गणमय बाण आकाशकमें टिड्डीदलोंके समान प्रकाशित हो रहे थे
śalabhānām iva vrātāḥ śarāḥ karṇa-samīritāḥ | karṇena cālaye huye sahasroṃ suvarṇa-gaṇamaya bāṇa ākāśe śalabha-dalān iva prakāśitā babhūvuḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—शलभानामिव व्राताः शराः कर्णसमीरिताः; सहस्रशः सुवर्णमयाः शराः अम्बरे प्रकाशन्ते स्म।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial excellence can become overwhelming and all-consuming; ethically, it warns that when conflict is pursued without restraint, violence proliferates like a swarm, obscuring clarity and compassion even amid claims of duty.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa releasing and driving vast numbers of arrows; they glitter in the sky like a locust swarm, emphasizing the intensity of Karṇa’s assault and the battlefield’s terrifying spectacle.